Marathon Weekend 2017!

[True Romance]

Animal Kingdom POSSIBLY will be open (depending on what corral you start in)...Hollywood Studios and Epcot definitely will be. So yeah, World Showcase would be a goo bet, or near the Boardwalk Resort, or in Hollywood Studios.

Thanks, kinda excited for that. Something different and more encouragement is great. AK will be open by the time I pass, slow and in a back corral. Hmmmm, maybe a grand marnier slushie will be passed to me for mile 25!

 

[Ariel484]

Thanks, kinda excited for that. Something different and more encouragement is great. AK will be open by the time I pass, slow and in a back corral. Hmmmm, maybe a grand marnier slushie will be passed to me for mile 25!

That would make crossing the finish line even better than it already will be!!

 

[cavepig]

Wow, I never thought about it before, but I guess the parks will be open when we are doing the full? All the halfs I have done the parks have still been closed. So if we have family & friends cheering us on at the full, I guess they can be in Epcot and then come and meet us at the finish. Any tips on a good place for them to watch us? I am guessing around the World Showcase.

I think France is a good spot, it's mile 25 and could give you that boost of energy for the last 1.2.

 

[Diskidatheart]

Thanks, kinda excited for that. Something different and more encouragement is great. AK will be open by the time I pass, slow and in a back corral. Hmmmm, maybe a grand marnier slushie will be passed to me for mile 25!

You've got to stay hydrated for that last 1.2 miles, right?

 

[rteetz]

All this beer and alcoholic beverage talk for during the race. I'm not 21 yet I guess I need to get someone to get me a prrtzel or something instead.

 

[Dan1]

How does the runner tracking work during the marathon?

DW, DSIL and DBIL are all running the Marathon without me. I know I can (because I have before) get from seeing them off at Epcot to Cindy's Castle me MK in time to see them. But I want to be able to see where they are the rest off the race and plan my strategy accordingly at a couple of more viewing points.

Is the runner tracking an APP that I can download on my iphone? does it simply indicate the most recent mile marker they have passed on the course?

Many many thanks for this!

 

[cavepig]

Runner Tracking - you get txt &/or email alerts every I think 5k or 5 miles in the marathon. You sign up for your runner with your email or phone number for texting. The link for tracking gets posted like 1-2 weeks before. It gives you their pace and estimated finish.

 

[PrincessV]

All this beer and alcoholic beverage talk for during the race. I'm not 21 yet I guess I need to get someone to get me a prrtzel or something instead.

I started craving a soft pretzel long about mile 17 - that would be a great item to have waiting for you!

How does the runner tracking work during the marathon?

DW, DSIL and DBIL are all running the Marathon without me. I know I can (because I have before) get from seeing them off at Epcot to Cindy's Castle me MK in time to see them. But I want to be able to see where they are the rest off the race and plan my strategy accordingly at a couple of more viewing points.

Is the runner tracking an APP that I can download on my iphone? does it simply indicate the most recent mile marker they have passed on the course?

Many many thanks for this!

Not an app - it sends messages via text, email, Facebook (you pick which). They're' not terribly accurate, but a decent tool to find your runners; just assume they may be delayed a little when you get them and plan accordingly. For the full, mine came at the start, 5 miles, 10 miles, halfway, 20 miles, and finish. Each message will give a predicted finish time, too.

 

[Dan1]

Runner Tracking - you get txt &/or email alerts every I think 5k or 5 miles in the marathon. You sign up for your runner with your email or phone number for texting. The link for tracking gets posted like 1-2 weeks before. It gives you their pace and estimated finish.

Any idea cavepig how 'current' the text alerts are? I mean, are they say a minute after the runner passes the 5K / 5M marker? or are they sent out only every 15 minutes? . Thank you for this.

 

[cavepig]

Any idea cavepig how 'current' the text alerts are? I mean, are they say a minute after the runner passes the 5K / 5M marker? or are they sent out only every 15 minutes? . Thank you for this.

For me it's always been current. I set them up on my phone for me, and both brothers and I would hear it in less than 30 sec. after I crossed a mat. So, they are supposed to be real time accurate. I have heard of others saying they got them late, but I never have and my parents did the darkside 10k and I got alerted I'm pretty sure real time too.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Any idea cavepig how 'current' the text alerts are? I mean, are they say a minute after the runner passes the 5K / 5M marker? or are they sent out only every 15 minutes? . Thank you for this.

I just did this for Dark Side Half for myself (as well as for Dopey this year and PHM last year, so I'd see my "official" time along the way) and I'd get the texts maybe 20-30 seconds after crossing the timing mat.

 

[cavepig]

I recommend signing yourself up for the txt alerts too because then you know your chip worked right away.

 

[rteetz]

Any idea cavepig how 'current' the text alerts are? I mean, are they say a minute after the runner passes the 5K / 5M marker? or are they sent out only every 15 minutes? . Thank you for this.

They are pretty current. I usually set it up to send texts to myself during the race. Once I cross the mat maybe 30 seconds later I got the text.

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

And thanks for all the race timing conversation - reminded me to sign up for Tink Half next weekend!

 

[Ariel484]

Texts have been current for me as well, except for when I spectated the Princess half in 2014. They were terrible - came in hours later, if I remember correctly.

As I remember...
5K - no text tracking, even for Dopey runners (would make sense for most because there aren't timing chips in the bibs, except for Dopey runners - but I don't remember getting a text for that race)
10K - 5K and finish
Half Marathon - 5K, 10K, 15K and finish
Marathon - 5 miles, 10 miles, halfway, 20 miles and finish

 

[Mimsy Borogove]

Texts have been current for me as well, except for when I spectated the Princess half in 2014. They were terrible - came in hours later, if I remember correctly.

As I remember...
5K - no text tracking, even for Dopey runners (would make sense for most because there aren't timing chips in the bibs, except for Dopey runners - but I don't remember getting a text for that race)
10K - 5K and finish
Half Marathon - 5K, 10K, 15K and finish
Marathon - 5 miles, 10 miles, halfway, 20 miles and finish

Just checked mine and we did receive texts for all races for Dopey Challenge this year. But the no text tracking would stand for non-Dopey 5K runners.

 

[lhermiston]

All this beer and alcoholic beverage talk for during the race. I'm not 21 yet I guess I need to get someone to get me a prrtzel or something instead.

Drinking age in Mexico is 14, isn't it? I'm no lawyer, but I think those laws apply in the World Showcase

Have a cerveza, kid! (Just finish before future world)

 

[rteetz]

Drinking age in Mexico is 14, isn't it? I'm no lawyer, but I think those laws apply in the World Showcase

Have a cerveza, kid! (Just finish before future world)

I think it's 16 in Mexico either way I'd be good lol.

 

[Ariel484]

Just checked mine and we did receive texts for all races for Dopey Challenge this year. But the no text tracking would stand for non-Dopey 5K runners.

I checked back and didn't receive a 5K text for Dopey in 2015, maybe that's new!

 

[opusone]

Any idea cavepig how 'current' the text alerts are? I mean, are they say a minute after the runner passes the 5K / 5M marker? or are they sent out only every 15 minutes? . Thank you for this.

For me it's always been current. I set them up on my phone for me, and both brothers and I would hear it in less than 30 sec. after I crossed a mat. So, they are supposed to be real time accurate. I have heard of others saying they got them late, but I never have and my parents did the darkside 10k and I got alerted I'm pretty sure real time too.

I just did this for Dark Side Half for myself (as well as for Dopey this year and PHM last year, so I'd see my "official" time along the way) and I'd get the texts maybe 20-30 seconds after crossing the timing mat.

For the Dark Side 10k, my start text was about 3 minutes delayed, but the 5k and finish texts were almost immediate.

For the Dark Side Half Marathon, my start and the 5k texts were about 3 minutes delayed, but the 10k, 15k & finish texts were almost immediate.

I imagine it depends on (i) how many people sign-up for text notification, and (ii) how many runners are going over the collective mats at the same time. For example, for the Dark Side half marathon, my 5k text that was delayed about 3 minutes might have just happened to correspond to another corral's start, so the system was working through all the start texts for the other corral at the same time I went over the 5k mat. I expect that after all the corrals have started, this is no longer a problem, and you should get them within a minute or less of the runner crossing the mat.